Learning to program is difficult for novices, even for those undergraduates who have majored in computer science. The study described in this paper has investigated the effects of game strategy and preference-matching on novice learners' flow experience and performance in learning to program using an experiential gaming activity. One hundred and…

We propose an extension of the Teaching Machine project, called Quiz Generator, that allows instructors to produce assessment quizzes in the field of algorithm and data structures quite easily. This extension makes use of visualization techniques and is based on new features of the Teaching Machine that allow third-party visualizers to be added as…

The literature has frequently highlighted the usefulness of podcasting in higher education; however, there is an important gap between the theory on good practice in higher education and empirical studies about podcasting. With this in mind, we carried out an empirical study on an undergraduate degree course in Information Systems Management. The…

Speeches presented to an international seminar on computer science are reprinted. These aspects of computer science courses in secondary education are considered: the significance of including such courses in the curriculum; objectives and contents for such courses; the integration of computer courses with other school subjects; methods and…

In the education literature, team-based projects have proven to be an effective pedagogical methodology. We have been using "RoboCup" challenges as the basis for class projects in undergraduate and masters level courses. This article discusses several independent efforts in this direction and presents our work in the development of shared…

This paper describes a game design and development course. The rationale for forming this class was to use student excitement with video games as an intrinsic motivation over traditional courses. Today's students have grown up exposed to gaming, interactive environments, and vivid 3D. Computer gaming has the capacity to attract many new students…

This study was designed to explore pre-service computer teachers' perception of motivation and response to an instruction based on self-regulated learning strategies. A pre-experimental method was used in this research. Data were collected through the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire developed by Pintrich and others (1993) and the…

Design patterns have become a widely acknowledged software engineering practice and therefore have been incorporated in the curricula of most computer science departments. This paper presents an observational study on students' ability to understand and apply design patterns. Within the context of a postgraduate software engineering course,…

Certain aspects of European art music occupy a middle ground between the two cultures described by C. P. Snow almost fifty years ago. Analogies exist not only between mathematics and the ratios underlying musical notation and intervals (i.e., the distance between pitches) but also between computer science and counterpoint (simultaneous melodies):…

We explain certain learning difficulties in computer science education as resulting from a clash between the students' culture as computer users and the professional computing culture. We propose the concept of fertile zones of cultural encounter as a way of overcoming these learning difficulties. This pedagogical approach aims to bridge the gap…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss one instructional design that leverages problem-based learning and game structures as a means of developing innovative higher education courses for students as responsive, lived experiences. This paper reviews a curricular redesign that stemmed from the evaluation of an introductory course in computer…

Creativity is an important entity in developing human capital while computer games are the current generation's contemporary tool. This study focused on the teaching of computer games development in order to enhance the creative perception of secondary school children. The study applied randomised subjects, with control group experimental design,…

In this paper we describe an instructional tactic of individually assigned homework that promotes and strengthens individual learning processes. We claim that current emphasis on the benefits of collaborative learning belittles the importance of individual learning processes and reduces the opportunities to require and assess individual learning…

As the entry-level information technology jobs could be easily outsourced offshore, the demand for U.S. employees who are innovative and productive in information technology (IT) project design, development, and management is growing among U.S. companies. This controlled experiment presents how a model of integrating students' intelligence…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two different methods on primary school teacher candidates' academic achievements and attitudes toward computer-based education, and to define their views on these methods. Both the first experimental group, programmed instruction (PI), and the second experimental group, meaningful…